Improvement in flat-irons



W M QA 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. Flat-Iron, 810. No. 211,517. Patented Jan.21,1879.

MPETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHEPi, WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED ST TES- PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MGGARTY, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR OF FOUR-FIFTHS HIS RIGHT TO FRANCISAMORY, OF BEVERLY, AND SAMUEL SNOW, ()F CAMBRIDGE,

MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FLAT-IRONS, 80C.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 211,517, dated January21, 1879; application filed November 14, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known'that I, WILLIAM MOOARTY, ofBoston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inFlat-Irons and Apparatus for Heating them, of which the following is aspecification:

My improvements relate to flat-irons for smoothing and polishingstarched linen and other fabrics, especially to those designed to beheated by flame directly, to lamp apparatus for heating, and to baseappliances or holders for sustaining and holding in position flatironsso made, or other similar articles to be heated directly by flame.

They have for their objects the proper internal construction of aflat-iron to adapt it to be heated by a flame quickly and readily, andso as to hold heat long, without the uncleanness and offensivenesscaused by incomplete combustion of the flame therein; the properexternal construction to adapt it to being thus heated and to itsappropriate uses; the production of a lamp for heating with speed,durability, and safety; the making of a base or v holder adapted tosupport and hold firmly such a flat-iron in its proper position forheating by a flame, and combine with the burner of a lamp and thearticle to be held and heated, so as to make a perfect draft andchimney, and also readily removable from the lamp to give place for atransparent chimney; and, generally, to obviate and overcome thedifliculties and objections existing in all the contrivances heretoforedescribed for heating flat-irons by means of lamps and gas-jets.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a sectional view of my whole contrivanceon a vertical plane passing through the shortest diameters of the lamp,the flame, the base-holder, and the flat-iron. Fig. 2 shows a sectionalview of the same on a plane passing through the longest diameters and atright angles with the other plane of section. Fig. 3 is a view, inperspective, of my lamp, base-holder, and flatiron in position. Fig. 4is a perspective view of my flat-iron, showing the base end and apertureS; and Fig. 5 is a top-plan View of my base-holder detached.

A is alamp-body, which I make of any suitable material, and usuallylarge enough to support two burners, E E, so that either both burnersmay be used for heating, or one for heating and the other for light,with a trans parent chimney in place of the opaque chimney supplied bythe flat-iron and holder; or the chimney may be fitted to the holderjust as the flat-iron is, and there is then no need to remove the holderwhen putting on the glass chimney. This lamp-body A has two bottoms, bd, d being inside, and is divided into two or more chambers orapartments, 0 and W, and is provided with a screw-cap, R, opening intothe oil-chamber O, and another screw-cap, T, opening into thewater-chamber W, and also with one or more sockets, l), for a burner orburners, also opening into the oil-chamber O. The water-chamber \V isabove the oil-chamber O, and coversit substantially, and is around theopenings within the sockets D D, within which are the wicks, so as tooperate to prevent the parts containing and coming near the oil fromrising above a safe point in temperature, and thus completely protectsthe lamp against explosion, which might otherwise be induced by thegreat heat developed by heating the articles above.

The cap T has a perforation to allow escape for the evaporation of thewater.

E is the burner, having the wick-tube F, the dome G, the bracket H, andthe thumbratchet V, for raising and lowering the wick. This burner E isscrewed into the socket D in the ordinary manner, and may be of anydesirable form; but I make it of greater strength than ordinary burners,so as to hold firmly the weight above, and usually with a widerwicktube; and it is provided, in the usual manner, with perforations forair-passages, &c., so that when surmounted with a glass chimney it willgive complete combustion. The dotted line K represents the flame whenthe lamp is burning.

B is a base-holder, consisting of a part, I, which fits into the bracketH, and may be held there in place by catches and a small screw, or inany similar way, as a glass chimney is, and of a part, J, which isfitted to receive the base end of a flat-iron or other hollow article tobe heated; and these two parts are connected and constructed in such away that they are firm and strong to sustain the weight above in place,that they are open to the passage of air to and around the flame andthrough them into the chimney above, and have a projection or projectingshoulders within the part J, to support the article above and prevent itfrom. falling too low upon the flame or dome below, and that they arereadily removable to give place to a glass chimney.

O is my flat-iron, of which U is a handle, and c is the operative orsmoothing surface. P is the interior cavity in this flat-iron. Sis theopening at the base, and Q, is the opening at the top or apex of thesame. I shape and construct the base end of the flat-iron so that itwill fit and be held by the base-holder B in position, and so that whenthe iron is in position for heating, the side 0 is perpendicular; also,with the opening S of sufficient size and proper shape to admit theflame and proper air-currents. The free opening Q, at the top of theiron I make of suitable shape and size to practically co-operate withthe opening S and cavity 1, and burner or base-holder below, to form aperfect chimney. The side of this device toward the handle Uis as thinas consistent with substantiality, and the wall of the cavity 1? next toit is nearly straight and perpendicular when in position, as shown inFig. 1, the opposite or smoothing side 0 being also perpendicular, ornearly so, when in said position. This side of the flat-iron is thick,in order to hold heat and make the whole of suitable weight, and isthicker at the apex than at the base, so that the wall of the cavity]?nearest the side 0 is not perpendicular, but approaches the oppositewall as it goes up until the thickness from w to z is about twice asgreat as the thickness from 82; to 3 Again, as shown in Fig. 2, thesides of the cavity 1, which intersect a plane passing through thelonger diameter of the flame and the flat-iron, are neither straight,plane, nor perpendicular, but are curved through. substantially theirwhole length-i. 6., they curve inward at and near the top and bottom ofthe cavity when in position as above, and thus, by their intersectionwith said plane, form a curve, M L N, on one side, and an oppositecorresponding curve on the other side, substantially like the two longersides of a broken ellipse.

I find by actual experiment that combustion is most nearly perfect whenthe length of the bottom opening, S, is about a quarter of an inch fromthe flame throughout the whole extent of the flame, and thatconsequently the curvature is determined and governed in each case bythe shape taken by the flame through its whole extent from thedelivering-tube upward and laterally.

* Having now described one form of a contrivance embodying myimprovements, I may point out the manner of its operation briefly, asfollows: The oil tank or chamber 0 is filled by pouring in oil at thecap It. The waterchamber W is filled by pouring in water at the cap T.The base-holder B is placed in position in the bracket H, thewicklighted, and the flat-iron O is held with its apex upward, and thebase placed in the part J of the base-holder B, so that the longestdiameter of the flame K and the longest transverse diameter of thecavity 1? are in the same plane. The flat-iron thus placed forms achimney for the flame, and the curvature of the cavity 1 at M L N and ML N is such as to cause complete combustion, and prevent the smokinessand accumulation of lamp-black incident to other forms of construction.

The inclination of the side of the cavity from 3 to 00 causes the heatof the flame to impinge upon that side of the cavity next to thesmoothing or operative part of the fiat-iron c, and thus it is quicklyand evenly heated, while the thickness of the wall on the side 0 is suchas to retain heat a long time.

The two parts I and J of the base-holder are not soldered together, asthe heat would melt them apart, but are joined by a folding joint, ormay be cast solid together. The wa ter around the burners absorbs theheat from them, and prevents any danger of explosion by generation ofgas from the oil in the lamp, and as soon as one flat-iron is heated itis taken off and another put in its place to heat. Where two or moreburners are used, the irons are taken ofl the different burnersalternately, and when light is needed, a glass chimney of suitable sizeand shape is placed on one burner, or on the holder, instead of an 1ronone. 7 The devices heretofore described and attempted to be used have,so far as my knowledge and examination extend, failed of accomplishingtheir purpose of heating flatirons directly by flame, and were all opento the objections of dirtiness, danger, and impracticability.

My improvements are proved, by experiments and actual continued'use, toobviate these objections, and to be in every respect practicallysuccessful.

I do not claim, broadly, ahollow flat-iron, or the heating of aflat-iron inside, or the combination of a flat-iron with a lamp forheating it, or the combination of a holder with either for that purpose,or the construction of a hollow flat-iron with the opposite sides of itscavity curved inward toward the top or apex; but

I claim as new and of my invention- 1. The movable base-holder B,provided with the parts I and J and the ledge a, substantially asdescribed.

2. An apparatus for heating, consisting of the chambers O and W, theopenings on n,

the socket D, burner E, tube F, dome G, bracket H, and holder B, havingthe parts I, J, and 6, combined and operating substantially asdescribed.

3. The fiat-iron O, constructed with cavity P, openings S and Q, curvedwalls ML N and M L N,and the incline or thick overhang y 00 z 85, andadapted, as shown at the base, to be combined with the holder B,

bracket H, and tube F of a burner, in the manner and for the purposesherein shown and set forth.-

WILLIAM MOGARTY.

Witnesses:

(J. W. CARTER,

CHARLES E. PRATT.

